Tverrfaglige møteplasser og utvikling av transformative fagfellesskap for bærekraftsundervisning i lærerutdanningen

Abstract

This study investigates how organised interdisciplinary arenas in teacher education can serve as an initial step toward developing transformative professional communities for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It addresses the persistent gap between the demand for interdisciplinary competencies among future teachers, who are expected to teach cross‑curricular themes, and the well‑documented challenges of fostering interdisciplinarity within teacher education itself. Theoretically, the article draws on conceptualisations of sustainable development as an overarching, interdisciplinary perspective embedded in transformative learning processes. Central to this understanding are critical reflection, dialogue, experience, and context, with dialogue highlighted as a conversational practice that can foster diverse meanings and mutual recognition. Methodologically, the study employs an exploratory, qualitative, participatory design. Collective qualitative analysis was conducted using audio recordings from interdisciplinary workshops involving teacher educators. The researchers also participated in the workshops, offering an insider perspective and providing insight into interactional processes shaping interdisciplinary approaches to ESD. The analysis demonstrates that teacher educators use these arenas to jointly explore key sustainability concepts, such as action competence, systems thinking, critical thinking, and perspective‑taking. Transformative elements of the dialogues are characterised by both recognition and resistance, generating productive diversity of meaning. Dialogic patterns are discussed in relation to transformative processes in which critical reflection, shared experiences, and emotional engagement challenge and expand existing frames of reference. The study concludes that organised interdisciplinary arenas hold substantial potential for cultivating interdisciplinary ESD as part of intentional efforts to develop transformative dialogue within professional communities. By examining local practices in Norwegian teacher education, the article illuminates international challenges of implementing ESD and highlights how institutional, national, and global discourses intersect in teacher educators’ dialogues. The participatory and exploratory design contributes to comparative education by offering insight into how transformative learning communities can emerge at the interface between local experience and global sustainability perspectives.